Tax

Traditionally tax disputes have been settled either by litigation or, in the majority of cases, by out of court agreement following protracted discussions between the two parties. This can be a lengthy and expensive process for the business/individual concerned as well as for HMRC.

Without diluting the robust approach set out in its Litigation and Settlement Strategy HMRC is prepared to “handle disputes non-confrontationally and by working collaboratively with the customer wherever possible”. In order to achieve this goal HMRC is prepared to consider the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques such as mediation in appropriate cases.

CEDR has been working with HMRC over the past two years to develop its knowledge and understanding of the mediation process. We have run a number of sessions of our renowned Mediator Skills Training programme exclusively for tax professionals drawn from both leading advisory firms and HMRC, and as a result we now have access to an extensive group of leading tax specialists who are also CEDR Accredited Mediators. This group continues to be supported by CEDR through its operation of a Tax Dispute Resolution Hub networking group; and a number of the practitioners have joined CEDR's panel of tax expert mediators.